US-12627241-B2 - Semiconductor device having switching elements with two different current capacities

US12627241B2US 12627241 B2US12627241 B2US 12627241B2US-12627241-B2

Abstract

In a semiconductor device, a plurality of first switching element chips and a plurality of first diode chips constituting a first inverter circuit, and a plurality of second switching element chips and a plurality of second diode chips constituting a second inverter circuit are mounted on a printed wiring board incorporated into a package. At this point, a current capacity of each of the plurality of second switching element chips is greater than a current capacity of each of the plurality of first switching element chips, and a current capacity of each of the plurality of second diode chips is greater than a current capacity of each of the plurality of first diode chips.

Inventors

Toshinari HIRAI

Assignees

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230912
Priority Date: 20220922

Claims (5)

1 . A semiconductor device comprising: a package; a printed wiring board incorporated into the package; a plurality of first switching element chips mounted on the printed wiring board to constitute a first inverter circuit; a plurality of first diode chips mounted on the printed wiring board and individually corresponding to the plurality of first switching element chips, each of the plurality of first diode chips being electrically connected in anti-parallel to a corresponding one of the plurality of first switching element chips; a plurality of second switching element chips mounted on the printed wiring board to constitute a second inverter circuit; and a plurality of second diode chips mounted on the printed wiring board and individually corresponding to the plurality of second switching element chips, each of the plurality of second diode chips being electrically connected in anti-parallel to a corresponding one of the second switching element chips, wherein a current capacity of each of the plurality of second switching element chips is greater than a current capacity of each of the plurality of first switching element chips, and a current capacity of each of the plurality of second diode chips is greater than a current capacity of each of the plurality of first diode chips, the semiconductor device further comprising: a high potential-side DC input terminal fixed to the package and commonly used for the first inverter circuit and the second inverter circuit; a low potential-side DC input terminal fixed to the package and commonly used for the first inverter circuit and the second inverter circuit; a plurality of first AC output terminals fixed to the package to output a single-phase or multi-phase AC voltage from the first inverter circuit; a plurality of second AC output terminals fixed to the package to output a single-phase or multi-phase AC voltage from the second inverter circuit; a plurality of first control terminals fixed to the package and individually connected to control electrodes of the plurality of first switching element chips; and a plurality of second control terminals fixed to the package and individually connected to control electrodes of the plurality of second switching element chips, wherein the package has a quadrangular shape in planar view, the plurality of first AC output terminals and the plurality of first control terminals are disposed along a first side of the quadrangular shape in planar view, the plurality of second AC output terminals and the plurality of second control terminals are disposed along a second side adjacent to the first side of the quadrangular shape in planar view, and the high potential-side DC input terminal and the low potential-side DC input terminal are disposed along a third side of the quadrangular shape opposite to the second side.
2 . The semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein a chip area of each of the plurality of second switching element chips is twice as large or more than a chip area of each of the plurality of first switching element chips, and a chip area of each of the plurality of second diode chips is twice as large or more than a chip area of each of the plurality of first diode chips.
3 . The semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein a number of terminals for outputting mutually equal AC voltages provided in the second AC output terminals is greater than a number of terminals for outputting mutually equal AC voltages provided in the first AC output terminals.
4 . The semiconductor device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a plurality of third diode chips mounted on the printed wiring board to constitute a full-wave rectifier circuit; a plurality of AC input terminals fixed to the package to input an AC voltage to the full-wave rectifier circuit; and a high potential-side DC output terminal and a low potential-side DC output terminal fixed to the package to output a DC voltage from the full-wave rectifier circuit, wherein the high potential-side DC output terminal and the low potential-side DC output terminal are disposed along the third side, and the plurality of AC input terminals are disposed along a fourth side of the quadrangular shape opposite to the first side.
5 . The semiconductor device according to claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of third diode chips mounted on the printed wiring board and constitute a full-wave rectifier circuit.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor device. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2018-107893 discloses a configuration in which a plurality of power conversion circuits is incorporated into a power control unit (PCU) mounted on a vehicle. Specifically, a motor driving inverter, a generator inverter, and a step-up and -down converter are incorporated into the PCU. The motor driving inverter has a DC input and output terminal and an AC input and output terminal. The motor driving inverter converts DC power input from the step-up and -down converter to the DC input and output terminal into AC power, and outputs the converted AC power from the AC input and output terminal to a motor. The generator inverter has an AC input terminal and a DC output terminal. The generator inverter converts generated power (AC power) input from a generator to the AC input terminal into DC power, and outputs the converted DC power from the DC output terminal to the step-up and -down converter. The step-up and -down converter has a first input and output terminal and a second input and output terminal. The set-up and -down converter boosts DC power of a first voltage input from an external DC power supply to the first input and output terminal to a second voltage (>first voltage), and outputs the boosted voltage from the second input and output terminal to a power generating inverter and a motor driving inverter. Among these power conversion circuits, the motor driving inverter uses a single transistor chip and a single diode chip because a large current flows through a diode for a relatively long time during regenerative brake. On the other hand, a composite semiconductor chip in which a diode is incorporated into a transistor is used for the generator inverter and the step-up and -down converter. With such a configuration, optimization is achieved in terms of cost, cooling efficiency, size, and the like. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Unlike the configuration described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2018-107893, sometimes a plurality of motor driving inverters are used in the same device. For example, a motor that drives a compressor and a motor that drives an air-cooling fan for a heat exchanger are used for an air conditioner. In this case, inverter circuits dedicated to the respective motors are required because the respective motors have greatly different rated outputs. However, a semiconductor device in which the plurality of motor driving inverters are incorporated into one package has not been developed so far. A semiconductor device into which the inverter circuit driving the motor for the compressor is incorporated and a semiconductor device into which the inverter circuit driving the motor for the air cooling fan is incorporated are required to be separately prepared in the case of the air conditioner described above. For this reason, it cannot be said that optimization has been achieved in terms of cost, cooling efficiency, size, and the like. For example, a cooler for each of a plurality of semiconductor devices is required to be provided. The present disclosure has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a semiconductor device capable of driving two types of motors having different rated outputs and capable of being optimized in terms of the cooling efficiency and the miniaturization. A semiconductor device according to one embodiment includes a package, a printed wiring board incorporated into the package, a plurality of first switching element chips, a plurality of first diode chips, a plurality of second switching element chips, and a plurality of second diode chips. The plurality of first switching element chips are mounted on the printed wiring board and constitute a first inverter circuit. The plurality of first diode chips are mounted on the printed wiring board, individually correspond to the plurality of first switching element chips. Each of the plurality of the first diode chips is electrically connected in anti-parallel to a corresponding one of the plurality of first switching element chips. The plurality of second switching element chips are mounted on the printed wiring board and constitute a second inverter circuit. The plurality of second diode chips are mounted on the printed wiring board, individually correspond to the plurality of second switching element chips. Each of the plurality of second diode chips is electrically connected in anti-parallel to a corresponding one of the plurality of second switching element chips. A current capacity of each of the plurality of second switching element chips is greater than a current capacity of each of the plurality of first switching element chips, and a current capacity of each of the plurality of second diode chips is greater than a current capacity of each of the plurality of first diode chips. The foregoing and